2016 has seen significant shifts in social media networks as distribution, conversation and engagement channels. More and more brands are looking to get the optimum best from their digital marketing initiatives. Integrated has taken a whole new meaning, even as consumer behaviour has evolved on all mediums. Digital marketing spends are being accounted for to connect with the right TG.

Quarter 3 marked by the Rio Olympics and Paralympics events has brought forth another set of great storytelling campaigns, creative digital campaigns that have sought the help of influencers to amplify the brand message, cause marketing campaigns that have chosen to connect the dots between a cause and driving social change through the social and digital media.

Here, we bring you a compilation of the best Indian social media and digital marketing campaigns reviewed at LI in quarter 3, 2016. Do note that this is an unordered list; campaigns are featured here due to a combination of factors like creativity, goal-orientation, memorability, brand connect, consumer engagement, and more.

1. Britannia Good Day #SmileMoreForAGoodDay

This September, Britannia Good Day had launched “Smile More For a Good Day” with brand ambassador Deepika Padukone to reinforce the importance of smiling more often. On social media, Good Day began spreading the word with engaging visuals. Social influencers from various walks of life were also leveraged to amplify the new brand philosophy. Read all about the Britannia Good Day #SmileMoreForAGoodDay digital marketing campaign.

2. Nanhi Kali & Nestlé India #EducateTheGirlChild

This Teachers’ Day, Nestlé India joined hands with Project Nanhi Kali (an initiative aimed to provide primary education to underprivileged girl children in India that works through sponsorship) for the launch of their campaign – #EducateTheGirlChild with the aim to educate a million girls. A touching digital film, informative visual content, along with Twitter’s Periscope to livestream an interaction with the girls of Nanhi Kali. together helped build awareness for the cause. Read all about the Nanhi Kali & Nestlé India #EducateTheGirlChild digital marketing campaign.

3. IndusInd Bank #JeetkaHalla Paralympics

In support of Indian Para-athletes this Paralympics 2016, IndusInd Bank in association with GoSports Foundation had launched “JeetkaHalla”, a campaign designed with the sole aim of highlighting their achievements. An anthem was created starring some of our para-athletes, visuals and gifs served to describe their inspiring journey, while contests were held to raise awareness about past winners. Read all about the IndusInd Bank #JeetkaHalla Paralympics digital marketing campaign.

4. Godrej Kala HIT “101 ways to kill a mosquito”

For the promotions of its new Lime flower variant, Godrej Kala HIT had launched ‘101 ways to kill a mosquito’, a unique social media driven co-journey to discover wacky ways of killing a mosquito along with users sharing a spirit of revenge against mosquitoes. The campaign began by sharing gifs and short videos, which were then carried forward with user generated ideas, all best ideas were featured at the microsite, Read all about the Godrej Kala HIT “101 ways to kill a mosquito” digital marketing campaign.

5. Tata Salt #NamakKeWaastey

This Rio 2016, Tata Salt, one of the sponsors of the Indian Olympics contingent, had launched ‘Namak Ke Waastey’, an integrated campaign to build awareness, pride and respect for our athletes. Compelling stories talked about four Olympics aspirants and what they’ve undergone to be at the level they are at. Prior to unveiling the video stories, teaser visuals asked users to identify the athletes with the help of the given clue. Later cover photos were made available for download. Read all about the Tata Salt #NamakKeWaastey digital marketing campaign.

6. Dell India Aarambh

Aimed to accelerate PC adoption in India, Dell India launched Aarambh, a pan India initiative preparing students for a Digital India by equipping them with new-age skills, enhanced learning and the power of technology. On digital, the brand released long-form films and has invested in a learning content portal which is useful to teachers, parents and students, and is accessible in Hindi as well as English. Read all about the Dell India Aarambh digital marketing campaign.

7. Lenovo India ‘Girls for Goals’

Lenovo India, in association with YUWA (a non-profit organization that teaches girls to play football) invested in a massive cause marketing campaign called ‘Girls with Goals’ that showcased the journey of the YUWA girls in realtime, as they made their way to the Donosti cup from Jharkhand to Spain. The objective was to collect funds for a school, while the girls exemplified the brand philosophy of ‘Fail Forward’. Video stories created awareness while #KickforABrick engaged social media users and sparked a call-for-action. Read all about the Lenovo India Girls for Goals digital marketing campaign.

8. Kurkure Family Express

In a bid to bond with Indian families, Kurkure launched the Kurkure Family Express – India’s First Food Train that hosted 40 families over an 8-day journey across India. While popular food enthusiasts Rocky & Mayur entertained the families, the digital team deployed on the train created realtime content for digital fans and distributed them via the brand’s social media properties, while a dedicated website served as an online hub. Read all about the Kurkure Family Express digital marketing campaign.

9. Bajaj Allianz Life ‘Defeat The Tax Monster’

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance launched the second season of its massive content led marketing campaign ‘Defeat the Tax Monster’ positioning life insurance as a tax saving tool and to build brand recall. A number of engaging content pieces were created in addition to the regular content, which included infographics, gifs, short videos, tax calculators, Whack the Tax Monster game, and more. Read all about the Bajaj Allianz Life ‘Defeat The Tax Monster’ digital marketing campaign.

10. Dell India #DellAntiRoteDay

Dell India has been in the process of eradicating Rote Learning from our education system by building awareness on its dangers, while making the process of learning as an interactive, creative process. The brand celebrated June 10, 2016 as Anti Rote Day with a digital film, a micro portal and creative visuals that called for user support. Engaging contests invited users to share their ‘Ratta stories’. Read all about the Dell India #DellAntiRoteDay digital marketing campaign.

11. TE-A-ME #TeaForTrump

TE-A-ME, a Kolkata based tea company sent 6000 green tea bags to Donald Trump to help him cleanse his mind as well as body, in a bid to save America and the world this July. A digital film featured citizens requesting Trump to drink the tea; a special message from India was flashed across giant screens near Trump Tower in New York. The video went viral finding coverage in several national and international digital publications. Read all about the TE-A-ME #TeaForTrump digital marketing campaign.

12. Amul Rio Olympics 2016

This Olympics 2016, India’s largest dairy brand and one of the sponsors of the Olympic India contingent, Amul nailed the brand engagement index armed with nothing but its creatively witty topicals that never failed to bring a smile onto your face, Capturing the essence of Rio 2016 in pun-filled visuals, the utterly butterly girl helped create a visual documentary for future generations to go back in time to experience the pulse of a nation. Read all about the Amul Rio Olympics 2016 digital marketing campaign.

13. Budweiser India #BrewedTheHardWay

Budweiser’s global summer campaign ‘Brewed The Hard Way’ made its India debut featuring real life passionate youngsters who’ve been brewed the hard way, in a bid to resonate with a young consumer segment. A digital film series paid tribute to young and successful folks like Robin Singh, lead striker of the Indian football team, Masaba Gupta, youngest fashion designer and musician Sahej Bakshi, each of them embodied the values of Ambition, Authenticity and Freedom. Read all about the Budweiser India #BrewedTheHardWay digital marketing campaign.

14. Godrej Goldilocks #KeepItPersonal

For the launch of for Goldilocks, India’s first personal locker by Godrej Security Solutions, the brand weaved in humour to its content pieces on social media. Quirky content in the form of visuals and gifs were crafted with compelling reasons to buy a Goldilocks locker; all the content was housed at a dedicated microsite. Read all about the Godrej Goldilocks #KeepItPersonal digital marketing campaign.

15. Volkswagen Ameo launch

In line with its philosophy: Think Pride. Think New, Volkswagen India launched a video-driven campaign for its made for India compact sedan, Ameo, wherein it associated ‘owning an Ameo’ as a matter of pride for millenials. A creative blend of offline and online initiatives ensured a relevant buzz was created right from the launch. A gif-based contest invited users to pause the gif at the price they guessed the Ameo was selling at. Read all about the Volkswagen Ameo launch digital marketing campaign.

16. Ching’s Secret “Ranveer Ching Returns”

Ching’s Secret, the desi Chinese food brand from Capital Foods launched its latest ad film ‘Ranveer Ching Returns’ starring the now popular character Ranveer Ching just like a movie release with a trailer. The Mad Max-inspired film by Rohit Shetty was given a Bollywood twist replete with the dance sequences, the funny villain and lissome heroine with wacky dialogues. Ranveer’s biggest fans chosen through a contest were invited to the premiere, while witty visuals kept digital audiences glued to the release. Read all about the Ching’s Secret “Ranveer Ching Returns” digital marketing campaign.

17. Vivel #AbSamjhautaNahi

ITC’s Vivel soap took on a larger role that went beyond softness and beauty to inner strength. Its campaign ‘Ab samjhauta nahi’ emphasized on workplace harassment often faced by women. In addition to the Vivel social media channels, a dedicated Twitter handle by the campaign name was created to help spread the word. Content shared is a combination of quotes from women writers, celebrities and influential people. Read all about the Vivel #AbSamjhautaNahi digital marketing campaign.

The above campaigns have been compiled from the ones reviewed at LI in the third quarter of 2016. Don’t forget to share your favourites from the list.